


A Break from Politics

by fraufi666



Category: New South Wales State Politics, Political RPF - Australian 20th-21st c.
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, Authority Figures, Conflict Resolution, Drabble, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Foreplay, I am so sorry, M/M, New South Wales State Politics - Freeform, Politics, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraufi666/pseuds/fraufi666
Summary: After a strong disagreement on the Koala SEPP, relations between the Coalition seem to be hanging by a thread. Barilaro takes some time out from politics to get away from the tensions that this issue had brought up. While relaxing on his estate, Barilaro receives a visit from the last person he’d want to see.
Relationships: Andrew Constance/John Barilaro
Kudos: 1





	A Break from Politics

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story is an AU. Although I have used real people and political figures this is entirely a work of fiction. All romantic encounters, events and insinuations are from my imagination. I mean no disrespect to any of the people depicted. I am also in no way politically biased.

Tucked far away in rural New South Wales, the Nationals MP hid in his estate. Given what had recently happened, with the Koala debacle and almost destroying the Coalition, Barilaro needed time out of politics to think. The video that some random Labor supporter, a “comedian” of sorts shared which seemed to slander him, only rubbed salt into the open wound.* He always had an issue with the Liberal Party, and yet now he knew that things were never going to be the same again, even after he backed down. The Premier, after all, was not someone to be reckoned with.

Barilaro sighed, leaning back in his couch and turned on the TV. He quickly changed the channel as soon as he saw anything to do with the government. It was too hurtful, too upsetting to be reminded of a party that was so out of touch with farmers. It wasn’t his fault that he wanted farmers to have the right to cut down trees. It had nothing to do with disliking koalas. But he had to keep in mind the needs of his electorate. Too many people within the Liberal party seemed to only care about the interests of those within the city, not the hard-working farmers and their struggles to find decent land to plant crops. He hated the Libs. Every single one of them. Yet he reserved hatred for one particular member most of all. 

Just as he was about to think about him, he heard a knock on the door. He ignored it.

“I know you’re there, mate. Can you please open up?” A familiar voice called out.

Barilaro’s heart thudded in his chest. As if fate had spoken, the one MP he hated with a passion was there, waiting on the other side of the door. _Andrew Constance._

“Fuck off, Andrew.” Barilaro called back. “I don’t care about what Gladys has told you to say to me.”

But in truth, he did care. Perhaps a little too much. Berejiklian was a wonderful woman, and yet now she barely contacted him. She treated him like a stranger, not even bothering to check in on his mental health. All because of the bloody koalas. If he had not hated them before, he certainly hated them now.

Sighing, Barilaro stood up and walked over to open the door. Constance stood before him in one of his trademark chequered shirt, a smile on his unshaven face. Privately, this was the look Barilaro had always preferred, not the out of touch Liberal MP in a suit.

“Hey, mate. Can we talk?” The Transport Minister asked,

“What do you want?” Barilaro demanded, “If you’re here to gloat with ‘I told you so’, then you can turn around and go home.”

“That’s not why I’m here, John.” Constance said, his smile fading. “I just wanted to see how you are.”

“Pfft, what crap.” Barilaro grumbled, but he found himself holding the door open to let Constance in after him. “You can say what you need and then see yourself out.”

The Liberal MP sat down on the couch without being asked to take a seat. He knew the room all too well, for he had been there so many times.

“No need to make yourself comfortable.” Barilaro chimed, “Just say what you need and go.”

“Come on mate.” Constance urged, patting the space on the couch beside him, “Let’s just sit and talk properly for old time’s sake.”

Reluctantly, Barilaro went to sit down in the seat opposite to him. “Make it quick, I haven’t got all day.” The Nationals MP said impatiently.

He noticed that the circles under the other man’s eyes were darker than usual. Constance looked perpetually tired. It confused him how he could look so run down considering he was not going through nearly as much as he had. There was so much sadness and regret in his expression.

“I think we can say we’ve both had a pretty terrible year.” Constance admitted, his blue eyes gazing at him sympathetically. “But I want us to put whatever issues we have behind us.”

Barilaro laughed bitterly, “Oh yeah? You think I can forget your sudden change of heart to run in Eden-Monaro?* That was _my_ electorate, you bastard. You knew how much I wanted to get into Federal politics. But you just felt like you can take it all. Gladys has treated you like her knight in shining armour so you think you’re suddenly too good for us?”

Constance frowned, but he managed to keep himself calm. “Please don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, John. I came all the way here to make amends, not to start another spat that will end up on the front page again.”

The Nationals MP rolled his eyes. The Liberal MP took this gesture as his cue to continue talking.

“You see, John…After I thought about it, I couldn’t abandon my electorate. I know I shouldn’t have taken what was yours, but I just wanted to change the messy state politics has become. I thought, if I went to Canberra I would have enough power to do _something_.”

“Why couldn’t you just trust _me_ to do it?” Barilaro asked indignantly, leaning forward in his chair, his anger rising. “You knew how passionate I was to make a change, to make a difference and instead you snatched that away from me!”

Constance stood up quickly and walked over to the Nationals MP. Barilaro looked away from him. Gently, the Transport Minister put his hand on his, but Barilaro flinched before he could do so properly.

“Oh come on, mate.” Constance sighed, “Why can’t we just forgive each other and move on?”

Barilaro shot a dirty glare at him. “You _know_ why. I saw how cozy you’ve been with that Treasurer. You have changed since I’ve known you. All the power has gone to your head. You used to have integrity, respect even. I genuinely felt for you during the bushfires. But despite all of that, you’re just like the rest of them, a c-”

A finger rested against Barilaro’s lips. Constance leaned in. “Please, don’t say that word. You know how much it tore me up last time.” He begged. The hand traced against the National MP’s face, which was beginning to perspire. The Liberal leaned in, planting a light kiss against the other man’s lips. Although he was fighting against it, Barilaro let himself be taken in. He melted at the gesture instantly and all the tension and anger between the two seemed to dissipate.

“I told you I would do that again.” Constance explained after he had pulled back.

Barilaro felt himself shake slightly, completely moved by the gesture. He never thought that the Liberal MP would actually keep his promise. But he still could not give in to him yet. There was still so much unresolved between them and he knew that by giving in, Constance’s ego would be inflated.

“What makes you think I’ll just forgive you?” Barilaro asked, “You have changed so much. I always knew the Liberal Party was never the place for you.”

The Transport Minister planted himself on the other man’s lap, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Barilaro was going to push him off, but every single time that man touched him, he could only surrender to him.

“Please, mate. I’m trying.” Constance pleaded, his eyes bright with tears. “Whatever can I do to make things go back to normal between us? I know we will never see eye to eye politically, but can’t you and I just take a break from politics, just this once? Things were good with us before we let things get personal in our jobs.” He kissed him again, this time a slower, more deliberate kiss on the mouth. Barilaro could feel the stubble brush against his shaven cheek, a feeling that excited him more than he would have liked.

The Nationals MP was tempted to kiss him back, but he was still too furious that he sat as still as a statue, much to Constance’s frustration.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, John. I know Dom and I have a bond, but you and me, we’ve known each other for way longer. We’re from the country. We care about our electorates. We _get_ each other.” He traced a hand against the other man’s short, dark hair. Barilaro closed his eyes. He always enjoyed the way the Transport Minister did that. The last time he did that was well before everything fell apart between them and their respective parties. It felt so long ago.

“Mi Amore…” Barilaro muttered, unable to stop himself as Constance continued to stroke his hair. He was softening, much to his own dismay. There was no way he could keep up the tough guy act for long, especially not around him. “Do you really think we can resolve this?”

Constance took hold of his hand. “I’m a coalitionist. I _know_ we can.” He kissed his hand gently, causing it to tremble slightly. He continued to plant kisses along the other man’s arm, caressing his hand as he did so. It was as if there was no rivalry between them to begin with, only a passion that had laid dormant in all the time that they had worked together. The Transport Minister began to unbutton Barilaro’s shirt, kissing him on the neck as he did so.

“Don’t leave a mark, Mi Amore.” Barilaro whispered as Constance’s lips made their way to his chest, “Or the media will get suspicious.” The last thing he wanted was for that comedian to make another video of him and his sex life.

“I won’t, John.” Constance promised in between kisses, “I’ll always been gentle with you.”

With his legs spread apart, Barilaro lay back in his chair as Constance continued to kiss downwards. The Transport Minister got onto his knees, slowly unzipping the other man’s trousers. The Nationals MP raised an eyebrow, but he did not stop him. If this was the way Constance was going to make an apology, so be it.

The Liberal MP took him in his mouth eagerly without another word. Barilaro closed his eyes as he could feel the other man’s tongue encircle him. A moan escaped his lips. Given all the stress with the Liberal Party, he had absolutely no energy to even think about pleasure. But Constance was quite happy to do all the work, causing the Nationals MP’s thighs to tremble slightly as he continued. Barilaro gasped, his hand pushing against the grey hairs of the other MP so that Constance’s head was closer. Constance moved forward without another word, running his tongue quicker against the other man’s shaft.

“Ah…I’m going to come.” Barilaro moaned as Constance hastened his motions. There was a slight pang of jealousy as he thought back to how Constance was so friendly around Dominic Perrottet. The Treasurer was so well-liked, so handsome and tall. It was obvious why Constance was so taken by him, and he hated him for it. But the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come as soon as he reached his climax.

He came messily, some of his excitement dripping from Constance’s chin to his chequered shirt. The Transport Minister seemed unfussed by this and after he released him, began to wipe some of the stains off his shirt with a handkerchief. Now that he thought of it, Barilaro preferred seeing him like this most of all: completely covered by something that was his own doing. It made him feel powerful, in a way.

“Well, how was that?” Constance asked as soon as Barilaro managed to zip himself up again.

“You’ll have to screw up more often, if that’s the sort of apology I get.” Barilaro responded cheekily.

Constance took the other man’s hand in his, the blue eyes looking up at him expectantly. Barilaro could almost feel his heart quiver at the sight. It seemed so ridiculous getting angry with him now. Sure, they clashed politically, but nothing could tear apart the bond that the two of them had.

“I know you’re supposed to take a break from politics, but can I come over here again? I promise I’ll give you the finest Bega cheese for your spaghetti.” Constance promised.

Barilaro laughed, slapping the other man on the shoulder. “Yes, alright. But more of the other thing, okay?”

Constance leaned down to plant a kiss on Barilaro’s hand. Despite how furious he made him, it was endearing how loyal the Transport Minister was towards him.

“I promise.”  
  


He just hoped he would not let him down again.

**Author's Note:**

> *Footnotes for explanations: 
> 
> “The video that some random Labor supporter, a “comedian” of sorts shared which seemed to slander him…”: This is a reference to the notorious friendlyjordies video that became viral on social media after the Koala fiasco. You can watch it in the link below if you are interested. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihoirTYqf2c&fbclid=IwAR3Ha_fhWXpsckSuS6f5TpS1mBp1jWJxibzOwW73T5TYpf_ctHWtFKIPKlo 
> 
> “You think I can forget your sudden change of heart to run in Eden-Monaro?”: When writing this story, I was not only inspired by the tensions surrounding the SEPP, but also Constance’s last minute pull out of the Liberal pre-selection race for the by-election of Eden-Monaro. This fic was obviously a dramatisation of the Eden-Monaro by-election, but the video in this article was quite inspirational for the most part. You can view it below. 
> 
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-06/andrew-constance-withdraws-from-race-for-eden-monaro/12219156
> 
> Translation key:
> 
> Mi Amore: My love


End file.
